Great News:A super star player was chosen by Leeds United as searches for a left-back replacement

Leeds United could be forced into making a Sam Byram decision over the next seven days as the start of the Championship season begins to loom large on the horizon. The Whites take on Cardiff City at Elland Road next weekend and as it stands they are without a recognised, natural left-back.

Junior Firpo is injured and while Pascal Struijk and Leo Hjelde can play the role, neither can be considered specialist full-back options. Daniel Farke has underlined his desire to add to his numbers at the back and a left-back undoubtedly features towards the top of his list of priorities.

As it stands, though, while the club are pushing to add to their ranks, Ethan Ampadu remains the club’s only summer signing and the makeshift option of Byram might just appeal. Byram has been training with the Whites for a couple of weeks now following his release from Norwich City as he looks to regain fitness and find himself a new employer for the upcoming campaign.

The club have been careful not to say the former Leeds man is on trial, but he has now made two appearances in white over pre-season and on both occasions he has looked the part. His first was a steady showing off the bench against Monaco last weekend, emerging in the second half to replace Hjelde at the LNER Community Stadium before being praised publicly by Farke, who appeared to list the reasons why the 29-year-old would be a good signing.

The full-back then stepped into the starting line-up on Thursday night to take on Nottingham Forest and picked up 66 minutes as the Whites won 2-0 at the Pirelli Stadium. Byram found himself edging an intriguing battle with Ryan Yates on the night as he showed poise and precision on the left of a back four.

He was never found out of position and he provided a threat going forward, too, as he combined with Dan James ahead of him and looked to get the ball into the box. It was a strong showing and one that will certainly get Leeds thinking as they edge closer and closer to the real stuff.

Of course, there are a couple of reasons why Leeds would hesitate before offering a deal to Byram to re-join the Whites, seven years after his initial exit to join West Ham United in 2016. His injury record is undoubtedly the biggest, given he made just 47 league appearances during his four seasons at Norwich, missing approximately 72 per cent of the Canaries league fixtures in that time.